How Does Soil Salinity Affect Plant growth?
Salinity can affect plant growth in several ways, directly and indirectly: Direct soil salinity damages • Decreased water uptake High salts concentration results in high osmotic potential of the soil solution, so the plant has to use more energy to absorb water. Under extreme salinity conditions, plants may be unable to absorb water and will wilt, even when the surrounding soil is saturated. • Ion-specific toxicity When a plant absorbs water containing ions of harmful salts (e.g. Sodium, Chloride, excess of Boron etc.), visual symptoms might appear, such as stunted plant growth, small leaves, marginal necrosis of leaves or fruit distortions. Indirect soil salinity damages • Interference with uptake of essential nutrients An imbalance in the salts content may result in a harmful competition between elements. This condition is called “antagonism”, i.e. an excess of one ion limits the uptake of another ion. For example, excess of chloride reduces the uptake of nitrate, excess of phosphor
